Orca vs Great White

[Shell B]

I wonder what was in the ocean when great whites first came about. That would be interesting to know.

[The Grand Nudger]

It wasn't fresh blood, I'm trying to remember this off the top of my head but it was a chemical produced associated with panic (that the sharks in the small study seemed to interpret as panic even when they weren't the source - sensitive noses and all).

@Shell, likely...much larger and more terrible shit...lol. Think theres a debate as to whether Great whites come from the Megalodon (huge -but still not the biggest thing swimming) or Mako (small-and back in the day, equivalent to a goldfish) lineage.

[Jackalope]

It wasn't fresh blood, I'm trying to remember this off the top of my head but it was a chemical produced associated with panic (that the sharks in the small study seemed to interpret as panic even when they weren't the source - sensitive noses and all).

@Shell, likely...much larger and more terrible shit...lol. Think theres a debate as to whether Great whites come from the Megalodon (huge -but still not the biggest thing swimming) or Mako (small-and back in the day, equivalent to a goldfish) lineage.

Rhythm - I beleive the controversy is whether or not Megalodon belongs to Lamnidae (mackerel sharks, along with great whites and makos) or Otodontide (an extinct family), not which family GW belongs to. You may have material I'm not familiar with, however.

Regardless of that, for most of it's existence, GW was not the biggest, baddest predator in the sea.

Perhaps it is the case that large macro-predators avoid each other's territory to reduce competition. As GW and Orca share similar dietary preferences, it may simply be a case of pressure on food supply than fear of predation.

ETA: To give an idea of the difference in size between GW and Megalodon, see below (the two smaller teeth are from GW, the larger from Megalodon). GW would have been a tasty snack.

[Gambit]

How often do great whites die natural deaths, more specifically how do other great whites react to this (and how often are they in close proximity when the inevitable occurs)? We don't actually know (because our waters are more mysterious to us than the surface of the fucking moon). What did seem to be pretty well demonstrated is that sharks react to a chemical associated with the death of their own (don't believe that the shark used was great white though).

This would have been my call too. We know that certain animals/insects release "danger chemicals" when attacked, so why not great whites? Also, just because an animal is solitary, it is still a member of a species with survival skills/traits, which would possibly extend to warning other members of the species that there is danger, purely to ensure the survival of the species. Great whites are widely regarded as survival experts in the animal kingdom, as far as I know.

[Violet]

Spinytail are caught sitewide the first day we set every season. Second day we barely catch any. After that, it's very rare to see them.

Sharks are cool like that

[Epimethean]

Two additions:

One, great whites are not entirely solitary. The population off the Farallons is semi-social to a point, and this covers a little of their habits:

http://www.newser.com/story/152103/athei...ium=united

Two, they are not "stupid." By fish standards, they are pretty complex thinkers.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-na...harks.html

Since they have historically been only a mid-level predator, their sense of self-preservation is still quite strong. A friend of mine, a Navy Seal, was doing underwater night demolitions drills somewhere off San Diego about ten years ago, and when he had finished placing a charge, he said he got a strange feeling and turned around to find a massive great white drifting right behind him. He said it was the most frightening thing he has ever experienced. Laughing, he said that after "shitting" himself metaphorically, he was surprised to see the giant shark void its bowels and take off like it had seen a ghost. It seemed to have been startled by his movement.